The Battle For Rio

People want to break the system - and the great symbol to break the system was Bolsonaro – Rodrigo Amorim, MP and friend of new President Bolsonaro

Jair Bolsonaro vaulted to power on a pledge to smash corruption and endemic violent crime that sees around 60,000 Brazilians murdered each year, many in its tourist capital Rio, and to restore family values.

His message rang with Brazil’s burgeoning evangelicals and middle classes.

In Rio, reporter Sally Sara moves from wealthy gated communities to crime-infested favelas to explore why yet another democracy has turned to a hard-right absolutist leader…

Brazil really needs someone who is more severe, more drastic – Rachel, middle class single mother and victim of rape and robbery

… and why his opponents live in dread.

This is obviously a person who poses a danger to basic democratic principles, to the rule of law, to human rights – Glenn Greenwald, journalist and husband of left-wing MP.

When Bolsonaro lets police shoot to kill, his army of supporters love him for it. It seems not to matter that the former soldier praises past military dictatorships, or that he trash-talks women, or that he is a homophobe.

But there was one killing that’s become a rallying point for those who oppose the new president.

Black, gay, favela-raised politician Marielle Franco was a fierce critic of a policing system that kills a reported 5000 people a year.

A year ago she and her driver were gunned down by unknown assailants. Just this month, two ex-military police were arrested in connection with the killings.

There are men, powerful, who killed her because they don’t accept people like us in politics – David Miranda, gay left-wing politician

In death, Marielle Franco looms as large as she did in life. As preparations get under way for the spectacular annual Carnaval, huge flags are unfurled bearing her image. She has become a heroine and galvanising figure for opponents of the new order.

She may inspire them, but she can’t protect them…

Everybody is afraid of dying, everybody – Sagat B, barber and musician in the favelas

The Battle for Rio aired on Foreign Correspondent on ABC TV at 8 pm Tuesday March 26 and on the ABC News Channel at 9.30 pm AEDT Saturday March 30 and 5.30 pm AEDT Sunday March 31; also on iview.

Transcript

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SALLY SARA: Rio de Janeiro is famous for sun, sand and samba. It’s Carnaval time in one of the world’s most stunning cities.

FEMALE: I love Brazil!

SALLY SARA: But, beyond the celebrations, Rio is on the frontline of a fight for law and order.

GLENN GREENWALD: The fears of violence in Brazil are very real.

SALLY SARA: Brazil’s new right-wing President, Jair Bolsonaro, is promising to crack down on criminals. But some now fear that the so-called ‘Trump of the Tropics’ may be turning Brazil into a police state. In the build-up to Carnaval, we take to the streets for the Battle of Rio.

THE BATTLE OF RIO

SUBTITLE:

Today I stopped to think

What will the future be?

And behind a black cloud

I see a dark and gloomy horizon

Today I stopped to think

In my community

Because I still have hope

That one day I can change my reality

SALLY SARA: It’s taken Sagat B 40 years to find his true voice.

SUBTITLE:

I’ll have to be very strong

SALLY SARA: He’s restarting his life after more than a decade in and out of prison for drugs and violence.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): There’s a lot of fear, everybody’s afraid of dying. There’s hardly anyone who is not afraid of dying. Everybody is afraid.

SALLY SARA: His music comes from Rio’s slums, known as favelas. Places like this are at the epicentre of the war against crime.

SUBTITLE:

A black in the world

Destined to suffer

SALLY SARA: More than 63,000 people were murdered in Brazil in 2017. Most were poor, young and black.

BOY: Mangueira!

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): A black boy in the slums today in brazil has very low self-esteem. Many people do not believe in themselves or their abilities. So they give up and never succeed.

Reporter

SALLY SARA

SALLY SARA: Sagat is now a barber by day and rapper by night. He still wears the scars of his criminal past.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): This bullet entered here where there’s a scar.

SALLY SARA: The police shot him after he attempted a robbery. He was lucky to survive. More than 5,000 people are killed by Brazilian police every year.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): The bullet here will follow me to the grave, because whenever I feel it I thank God for still being able to breathe.

SALLY SARA: He hopes his second chance inspires others.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): I know that when kids come here, they know my story. There’s something that moves them, that shows there may be a future, it can make a difference.

SALLY SARA: Sagat thinks the new President’s tough on crime approach will backfire.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): In the world where I lived, I learned that violence begets violence. So when you say that a good thug is a dead thug, you grow a desire to kill in the thug’s heart too.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): The best way to deal with the problem of violence in Brazil is to promote long term policies. We don’t see projects working on the mindset of children like that in schools in slums. We don’t see things like that. We just see the police going into the slums with a licence to kill.

SALLY SARA: That’s everything, I think.

SALLY SARA: Home is the favela of Mangueira. It’s estimated that there are more than one thousand slums like this in Rio. It sits on a hillside overlooking Maracana Stadium – the centrepiece of the 2016 Olympics.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): Even if people living here in the slums face a lot of problems, we wake up in the morning and see a view like this.

SALLY SARA: The rich neighbourhoods are just out of reach.

CLAUDIENE ESTEVES (SUBTITLED): From up here when we look down, it seems very close. But it’s a long walk to get there.

SALLY SARA: But the people here make the most of what they have. Claudiene Esteves is a long-time local samba dancer.

CLAUDIENE ESTEVES (SUBTITLED): Here in Mangueira we have many hidden talents.

SALLY SARA: Once a year, the people of Mangueira put their favela on the world stage.

SALLY SARA: Mangueira is famous for samba. Brazil’s signature dance is a mixture of Latin and African rhythms.

CLAUDIENE ESTEVES (SUBTITLED): Everybody who was born and raised in the community of Mangueira has breathed this air since they were in their mother’s belly.

SALLY SARA: It’s less than a week to go before members of Mangueira’s Samba School will compete at Rio’s Carnaval.

SUBTITLE:

Brazil it’s your turn

SALLY SARA: This is one of the last rehearsals before Carnaval. It gives you an idea of the strong sense of community and the resourcefulness of Mangueira. The people here are able to gather thousands of locals together to put on a winning performance at what is known as the biggest party on earth.

SALLY SARA: But this is much more than a celebration. This year’s song pays tribute to the oppressed.

SUBTITLE:

Brazil, my dear negro

let me share with you

the story history doesn’t tell

The other side of the coin

in this struggle we find ourselves in

Brazil!

My love Mangueira has arrived!

SALLY SARA: Another name has been added to the list of heroes. Marielle Franco was assassinated a year ago. She was the only black woman on Rio’s city council.

SUBTITLE:

Brazil it’s your turn

To listen to Marias, Mahims,

Marielles, Males!

Mangueira!

CLAUDIENE ESTEVES (SUBTITLED): We’re showing the history Brazil didn’t tell about the slaves, about the people who have been struggling until today. The story that Brazil has never been told. This is the story that Mangueira wants to tell.

SALLY SARA: This is the man who is polarising the country. Brazil’s new President, Jair Bolsonaro has little time for his critics.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): Because I won’t become a wimp to please voters! The vote is your problem!

SALLY SARA: Bolsonaro is infamous for his sexist, racist and homophobic rants.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): You call me a rapist? You call me a rapist?

FEMALE: Yeah.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): You are too ugly to rape.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): If a son starts acting kind of faggy, he gets a beating and that changes his behaviour.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): The Portuguese never set foot in Africa – the blacks handed themselves in as slaves.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): Whore!

SALLY SARA: He was once a fringe political character.

SALLY SARA: A former Army officer, who praised military dictatorships.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): It works! I support torture, you know that!

SALLY SARA: But many Brazilians were fed up with crime on the streets and a multibillion-dollar corruption scandal under the previous left-wing government. They wanted a wild card.

GLENN GREENWALD: Anybody who successfully poses as an outsider and promises to burn down that political system, it will seem like it’s worth taking the risk.

SALLY SARA: Bolsonaro was stabbed at a rally, a month before the election.

JAIR BOLSONARO (SUBTITLED): I thank God and the wonderful family I have.

SALLY SARA: He was sworn in on January 1st this year.

SALLY SARA: The question is, how far will voters allow Bolsonaro to go?

DR JACQUELINE MUNIZ

Public Security Specialist

DR JACQUELINE MUNIZ (SUBTITLED): In the face of fear, citizens give up their individual and collective guarantees in favour of a opportunistic saviour, a opportunistic prophet, a muscleman, a strongman who promises to guarantee your life. But you pay for that.

SALLY SARA: Christ the Redeemer keeps watch over the city. Religious conservatives are a big part of President Bolsonaro’s support base. His promised return to ‘family values’ and law and order resonates with many.

SALLY SARA: Brazil is the largest Catholic nation on earth. But there’s a bit shift underway. The rise of Evangelical churches is changing the religious and political landscape and delivering millions votes to President Bolsonaro.

SALLY SARA: The Evangelicals already account for more than 20 percent of Brazil's population.

PASTOR SILAS MALAFAIA (SUBTITLED): We will continue to open agencies of heaven on Earth.

GLENN GREENWALD

Journalist, ‘The Intercept’

GLENN GREENWALD: The Evangelical movement is probably the single most powerful and influential political faction in Brazil.

SALLY SARA: Silas Malafaia is a high-profile Pentecostal pastor with a vast network of churches and business interests.

PASTOR SILAS MALAFAIA (SUBTITLED): If you would like to use your credit or debit card, raise your hand and someone will come to you with an EFTPOS machine.

SALLY SARA: The Evangelicals are highly successful at recruiting and retaining a loyal congregation.

PASTOR SILAS MALAFAIA (SUBTITLED): I think they understood that because we’re a very large and influential segment, we deserved to receive proper attention.

SALLY SARA: With the President’s blessing, the Evangelicals push their hard-line views on everything from abortion to homophobia.

PASTOR SILAS MALAFAIA (SUBTITLED): I’m not afraid of any laws of homophobia, you know why? No one can be punished by philosophical, religious or political convictions. I’m going to declare – because it is my conviction, and I’m protected by article five of the constitution. Homosexuality is a behaviour and it’s a sin.

PASTOR SILAS MALAFAIA (SUBTITLED): My daughter, I am always threatened with death. I’m forced to walk with security guards. There are four security guards around me and why? I have received threats from the gays, threats from the leftists, but I do not flee.

SALLY SARA: Rio City councillor, Marielle Franco, received threats too – but with deadly consequences. Marielle was black, lesbian and grew up in the favelas. She was a persistent voice against repression and police brutality.

MARIELLE FRANCO (SUBTITLED): In the alleys and laneways of the favelas, to survive is our greatest resistance!

SALLY SARA: The 38-year old and her driver were shot dead on March 14th last year.

GLENN GREENWALD: One of the reasons she was so inspiring and important as a political figure was because she was so defiant. She used to challenge viscerally to the kind of conservative culture that not only dominates Brazil, but becomes stronger as part of the Bolsonaro movement.

SALLY SARA: David Miranda was Marielle Franco’s colleague on the Rio City Council. He’s also gay, black, outspoken and from the favelas. He carried Marielle’s coffin at her funeral.

DAVID MIRANDA: It was so heavy, because like it was my friend inside of there. And every time we passed through the people, they would just like fall down. Just like the bodies would just give up when we pass. And everybody was crying.

SALLY SARA: Miranda is the husband of journalist Glenn Greenwald. They have two adopted sons.

SALLY SARA: We’re obvious targets. We’re not paranoid about it. We’re not going to flee the country. We are not going to restrain our advocacy or our work in any way, but we’re obviously conscious of what the risks are.

SALLY SARA: Now, David Miranda is a member of the National Parliament, chosen to replace another gay MP, Jean Wyllys, who fled because of death threats.

DAVID MIRANDA: And I know what I can do in the Congress. That’s why I got into politics, because I believe I can be this voice.

SALLY SARA: Last month, two former police officers were arrested for Marielle Franco’s murder. They say they’re innocent. As detectives investigate, Marielle’s supporters believe the killing was linked to right wing hit squads.

DAVID MIRANDA: Powerful men killed her, because we know they don’t accept people like us in politics.

SALLY SARA: The militias are run by current and former army and police officers. For years, they have operated with impunity in Rio.

DR JACQUELINE MUNIZ (SUBTITLED): I would say it’s very delicate. Marielle’s death is yet to be solved.

SUBTITLE:

“Who killed Marielle?”

SALLY SARA: The question remains, who killed Marielle Franco? And who ordered it?

DR JACQUELINE MUNIZ (SUBTITLED): This was much bigger and had to do with political actors from above. The notion that it was a militia guy from any corner is too simplistic. It’s more than that. It’s bigger than that and serves political objectives.

SUBTITLE:

“It wasn’t me”

SALLY SARA: President Bolsonaro is facing increasing demands to explain his family’s alleged links to the militias. He denies any connection to the killers.

SALLY SARA: In Rio’s state parliament, the political debate is bitter.

MALE (SUBTITLED): I believe we are living in a crisis in Brazil democracy and the party system.

SALLY SARA: The number one item on the agenda is the fight against violent crime. Long-time observers have never seen it like this.

ARI PEIXOTO

Correspondent, TV Globo

ARI PEIXOTO: We have today a House of Representatives full of people from the right-wing. They are just interested in killing people and they think that killing people, they are going to reduce the crime rate.

SALLY SARA: But the uncompromising approach has the support of millions of people in Rio.

ARI PEIXOTO: President Bolsonaro was elected with a huge votation here in Rio de Janeiro, I think more than 60 percent. He had more than 60 per cent of the votes here in Rio de Janeiro.

SALLY SARA: Conservative debutant, Rodrigo Amorim won more votes in 2018 than any other candidate in Rio.

RODRIGO AMORIM (SUBTITLED): The big result of the 2018 elections was surely the people’s wish to break the system. The great symbol to break the system was Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro represented the antithesis of everything there was. He was fighting corruption, restoring values.

SALLY SARA: Rodrigo Amorim is a family friend of the Bolsonaros. He supports the President’s policy, allowing police to shoot to kill, even if suspects are teenagers.

RODRIGO AMORIM (SUBTITLED): Police officers have the legal right to defend themselves. If there are minors involved who react to a police action, they must be treated as criminals and outlaws to be arrested. If they end up dead in combat, it’s a consequence of the police doing their job.

SALLY SARA: On the city’s most famous beach, Copacabana, people are divided.

MALE (SUBTITLED): I think it will get better because the situation in the country is horrible. Too much violence, the financial situation is bad. A high rate of unemployment. So, let’s see if he can improve things. He’s a young fellow with a strong will.

FEMALE (SUBTITLED): I’m less against him than before, but he would never have my vote.

FEMALE (SUBTITLED): Living in Brazil, it’s normal, because this is how politics are done. Politics has no solution. You can put the most honest person in the world there and there will always be corruption. It’s got to stop. He has to decide to stop it.

SALLY SARA: For some Bolsonaro supporters, the conservative shift is long overdue. Rachel Gutvilen is a single mother. She wants a better future for her four-year old son, Romeu.

RACHEL GUTVILEN (SUBTITLED): Brazil really needs someone who is more severe, more drastic. In 15 years, I hope my son can go out without me, without me worrying every second whether he’ll make it back home.

SALLY SARA: But crime is so bad, Rachel and many other middle-class residents live in secure compounds like this one. Before she moved here, Rachel was a victim of violent crime seven times, including rape and robbery. She wants heavily armed criminals to be killed.

RACHEL GUTVILEN (SUBTITLED): It’s not complicated. People can’t have big guns, rifles. That’s it. If they do, they are wrong. People don’t have rifles for decoration, to walk around. They will use it to kill somebody, either police or an innocent person. So if they use it, they will die.

SALLY SARA: Rapper, Sagat B, is performing in downtown Rio.

SUBTITLE:

Here I am, another little black man

Like any other who screwed up

But it’s as an MC

sorry for what has been done

Every black in Brazil

has already been fucked

I keep my head up

I keep making my rap

I’m still plotting my runs

I keep warning the kids

Kids wake up, crime doesn’t pay

Sagat is sagacity

SALLY SARA: Sagat and his friends live in fear as the war on crime escalates.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): I’m no longer a bum or a criminal, but I’m scared. I can be walking in the slum in the morning, or leaving for a show or coming back from a show, doing something late at night because I work at night and bump into police, get misunderstood and lose my life for nothing.

SUBTITLE:

Heart hard, hard, hard

Heart hard, hard, hard

SALLY SARA: In February, 13 young people were killed during a police raid in the nearby favela of Fallet.

DIGUINHO (SUBTITLED): My cousin was killed at home. Not carrying anything. The police went inside and killed him with a knife.

MALE INTERVIEWEE (SUBTITLED): They went into house after house. They killed one after another.

MALE INTERVIEWEE (SUBTITLED): But if you go do anything, you might end up dead, too. They kill people here and there. It’s even worse now because of the current political administration, because it’s becoming the law.

SALLY SARA: Police have defended the raid and denied any wrongdoing. Young people are caught in the crossfire between police, drug gangs and right-wing militias.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): They’d rather invest in bullets for the police to kill these people than in notebooks for the children to study.

SALLY SARA: Many Brazilians have learned to live in the moment. For Sagat B, this is one of the few places he feels free.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): The sea is something that God gave to everyone, so there is no restriction on people, gender or age. This is a wonderful place. I think politicians should try to do what is best for the people, whether they’re from the right or left.

SALLY SARA: Decades of upheaval have bred resilience and passion.

SAGAT B (SUBTITLED): Brazilians are a warrior people who will never give up and whatever happens under Bolsonaro or any other government, we will keep fighting for a better future for our society, our children.

SALLY SARA: Rio is getting ready for one of the biggest nights of the year.

SALLY SARA: This is the pinnacle of Carnaval. Thousands of people are at the Samba Drome, to watch the city’s best samba schools compete. This event will go on until dawn. Member of Parliament, David Miranda, will be performing for the first time.

DAVID MIRANDA: I’m very excited about tonight. There’s going to be a lot of protests. Like the Samba movement always have been about putting like culture, but at the same time showing resistance. It was born in a place where all the black people who were slaves came to Brazil.

SALLY SARA: Ten times more African slaves were sent to Brazil than the United States. Today, their descendants keep samba alive.

DAVID MIRANDA: All those schools come from favelas. And when you see everybody just passing over there, it shows the energy of the communities of Rio de Janeiro. No government, nobody can take that from us.

DAVID MIRANDA: I hope everybody is going to be asking this question tomorrow, who are the ones who killed Marielle Franco?

SALLY SARA: Up in the stands is Marielle Franco’s widow, Monica Benicio.

MONICA BENICIO (SUBTITLED): There is a catharsis of sorts during Carnaval. So there’s a bittersweet feeling of sadness and joy. But there’s also a feeling of hope and resistance.

SALLY SARA: The parade is broadcast to millions. The performers know that their message will be seen and heard all the way to the top.

MONICA BENICIO (SUBTITLED): We elected a fascist who represents the exact opposite of what Marielle did. A misogynistic, sexist, LGBT-phobic man who in no way represents most of the Brazilian people.

SALLY SARA: Claudiene and the performers have been waiting all night.

CLAUDIENE ESTEVES (SUBTITLED): My anxiety today … is screaming.

SALLY SARA: It’s time for Mangueira to shine.

MALE: Mangueira, Mangueira!

SALLY SARA: As Carnaval rolls on, the battle of Rio is far from over. President Bolsonaro’s opponents say they won’t be silenced.

SUBTITLE:

Brazil!

My dear negro, let me share with you

the story history doesn’t tell

The other side of the coin

In this struggle we find ourselves in

Brazil!

My love Mangueira has arrived!

With verses the book has erased

SALLY SARA: Mangueira’s final act is to fly the flag of their hero – Marielle Franco.

SUBTITLE:

Brazil it’s your turn

To listen to Marias, Mahims, Marielles, Males

Mangueira!

MONICA BENICIO (SUBTITLED): Seeing Marielle’s image replicated not only in this call for justice but also in preserving the memory of what she represented, brings me hope. I realise her life wasn’t in vain and her death wasn’t either.